Sixel: Time off to vote comes with job

Updated 1:12 am, Thursday, November 1, 2012

It doesn't matter if early voting is the hot new trend. Companies must still give their employees in Texas at least two consecutive hours off on Election Day in which to cast their ballots.

That's not an issue for someone who works 9 to 5 because the employee has two consecutive hours on either side of the regular workday, since the polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to the Texas Secretary of State's Office.

But in this world of 12-hour shifts and 9/80 schedules, complying with state election law can get complicated.

It turns out that if any of that two-hour block of time falls within the employee's regular workday, the employee cannot be docked wages for coming in late or leaving early in order to cast his or her ballot, said Rachel Powitzky Steely, an employment lawyer for Gardere in Houston.

Say, for instance, an employee's shift runs from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Since there isn't a two-hour window to vote on either end, the company must either allow the employee to leave at 5 p.m. - and pay for that hour he/she would normally be at work - or make provisions for the employee to start at 9 a.m., yet consider the employee at work for payroll purposes. Or provide a two-hour paid lunch break.

Either way, there has to be a full two-hour window for an employee to vote on Election Day.

$500 fine

It's a Class C misdemeanor - which includes a $500 fine - to deny the time off, dock paychecks or threaten employees who want to use the time to vote, said Steely, who represents management clients and individual executives in employment matters.

Texas is one of 32 states that require some type of voting leave on Election Day, said Robin Shea, an employment lawyer with Constangy, Brooks & Smith in Winston-Salem, N.C., which has offices in Texas.

Many companies in Texas don't realize they have to give employees this time off to vote, Steely said. The ones that do are asking whether the availability of early voting means they still have to make arrangements since their employees have the option of casting their ballots early, she said.

Early voting began Oct. 22 and ends Friday.

It turns out that it doesn't matter if an employee lives next to one of the 37 early-voting locations in Harris County and can walk over any number of times during a day off. State law guarantees employees that two-hour window to vote on Election Day itself.

Can't get around it

Some employers are asking their employees to vote early - and even offering longer lunch breaks to get it done - because they don't want to let them off on Election Day, Steely said.

Employers can give extended lunch breaks to vote early, she said, but they can't keep their employees from exercising their right to vote on Election Day.

And that means two consecutive hours off.

"It's a bit reassuring that a certain company's business interest won't come before the basic freedom and duty of ours to vote," she said.

Not commonly known

Jim Lefton, assistant to the director of District 13 for the United Steelworkers, said he can't recall an instance where an employee he represents didn't get time off to vote.

However, he didn't realize employees cannot be docked their regular pay if the two consecutive hours falls within their regularly scheduled workday.